Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market has been added to the national heritage list, following a nomination from the City of Melbourne in 2015.
Federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg officially inscribed the market on the heritage list on 23 July. “For almost 150 years, it has sustained Melbourne, first as a meat market and then as a food and produce market,” he said.
“The colour, noise and traditions of market trading continue to this day within the Victorian-era structures, layout and fittings that make it such a grand old part of the Australian story.”
The Queen Victoria Market was formally opened in 1878, having previously operated as a meat market, on the site of Melbourne’s first cemetery, the Old Melbourne Cemetery. The national heritage listing statement of significance describes it as “an outstanding example of an Australian metropolitan food market established in the 19th century,” noting the vital role 19th century markets played in establishing colonies around Australia.
The restoration of sheds A to D of the Queen Victoria Market by Grimshaw Architects.
Image: Grimshaw Architects
“The Queen Victoria Market contributed to the wealth of the early colony, provided opportunities for newly arrived immigrants, as well as introducing the colony to new varieties and cultural diversity of foods,” the statement of significance reads. “[…It] still retains many of its original attributes, liveliness and character.”
The statement also notes that the Queen Victoria Market is the largest and most intact 19th century market in Australia and the only market to display all of the building types of the time – from open sheds and enclosed market halls to perimeter shops.
The City of Melbourne plans to renew and update the market to designs by Grimshaw Architects. The redevelopment would see sheds A, B, C and D repaired, restored and rebuilt, with a three-level basement structure constructed underneath the western sections of sheds A to D.
However, in March 2018, Heritage Victoria refused a permit application for the redevelopment on the grounds that the proposed works would be “unacceptably detrimental” and would have a “severe impact” on the cultural heritage significance of the market.
A section of the Queen Victoria Market Quarter 2 redevelopment by Grimshaw Architects.
Image: Grimshaw Architects
At a Future Melbourne Committee meeting on 15 May, council voted to go back to the drawing board and submit revised plans.
Lord mayor Sally Capp says the proposed $250 million redevelopment of the market would work in concert with the heritage listing.
“We are committed to protecting the heritage of the market and the respectful acknowledgment of the former cemetery, so that’s why we nominated the market for the National Heritage List in the first place,” said mayor Sally Capp. “The heritage listing and renewal can exist side-by-side and both are incredibly important.”
“Through renewal, we will be protecting the very things the national heritage list recognizes and the significant place the market now holds in Australian history,” she said.
“This means preserving the market’s long history, restoring its heritage buildings and securing its place as a traditional open-air market.”
